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Scottie Scheffler's arrest: The internet reacts with shock...and memes

What a strange day for golf.

Tim Marcin

on May 17, 2024

Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images

The PGA Championship — one of golf's four major tournaments — got off to a tragic, then quite strange, start.

There was a fatal pedestrian accident in the early hours near Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Kentucky, the site of this year's tournament. It caused a delay in the golf activities and lots of traffic outside the club. Thus there was a bit of confusion as Scottie Scheffler — the best golfer in the world and the recent Masters champion — attempted to get into Valhalla to play his second round at the PGA. That confusion, and traffic changes, and, apparently, some kind of misunderstanding led to a Louisville cop arresting Scheffler.

Yes, the world No. 1 was arrested and charged with, via ESPN, "second-degree assault of a police officer, third-degree criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disregarding traffic signals from an officer directing traffic." This all seemingly stemmed from Scheffler not understanding where he was supposed to go, a cop trying to stop him, then, as an ESPN reporter who witnessed the event put it, an "officer [attaching] himself" to the car.

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It's all bizarre. Scheffler might also be the last person you'd expect to have a run-in with law enforcement — he is well-known as a super nice, if a bit milquetoast, person.

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The internet reacted with a mix of shock, memes, and, frankly, confusion with the police.

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It has certainly been an odd day for the typically staid world of golf. Scheffler was able to make it back to the course in time to play on Friday. Clearly there will be a long legal process moving forward.

But fans at the club were clearly in support of Scheffler. He was greeted with massive cheers and chants of "Free Scottie."

Topics Sports

Tim Marcin

Associate Editor, Culture

Tim Marcin is an Associate Editor on the culture team at Mashable, where he mostly digs into the weird parts of the internet. You'll also see some coverage of memes, tech, sports, trends, and the occasional hot take. You can find him on Bluesky (sometimes), Instagram (infrequently), or eating Buffalo wings (as often as possible).